VVR to Tuolumne

This time I will try to do a better job of editing as I feel that the last two posts were a little rushed and maybe not as easy to read.

Vermilion Valley Resort (VVR):
To get to VVR you take the ferry or a four mile walk around the reservoir. Tiffany and I chose to take the ferry. This year the water is so low the ferry is a small fishing boat. At the other end you get a one mile ride in a truck to the resort, driving over bare land that would normally be covered in water.

I'm not sure that I would describe VVR as a resort. I would consider it a camp or half Lodge & RV Resort. The main building has a store and restaurant with covered seating outside. Hikers camp for free in the wooded area adjacent to the store. One of the outbuildings has shower rooms and a few washer and dryers at the end. We took advantage of both. It was fun to take a zero day here. It seems to be a bottleneck for hikers and again you realize how many fun people you're hiking with.

Back on the trail:
Leaving VVR Tiffany and I split up between the first ferry and the second ferry because they were trying to maximize the number of people in each ride out. It always feels good to be back on the trail again after a zero day. Although back on the trail the winds were picking up and the skies were turning grey. As we climbed towards Silver Pass the weather got worse and thunder rolled in. Near treeline we decided to hide under a group of trees. Shortly Brownie joined us to watch the weather. As the thunder came closer we all agreed that staying put was a good decision. It didn't seem long before the three of us were huddled under our ground cloth to avoid getting soaked and pounded by hail.

Luckily the storm was just a short afternoon bout. Our group of 3 joined the 2 Australians and we made our way over Silver Pass. The pass didn't have much snow and it was a short walk down to camp that night. We made a fire which seemed to draw more hikers in and ended up with another 2 joining our camp.

Reds Meadow Detour:
The second day out of VVR was more of the same beautiful country. In the lower elevations the meadows seem to be longer, wider, and more green. We had a 20 mile day into Reds Meadow. Here I made a decision I was not originally going to write about, but just in case anyone else has a similar situation I thought I would share.

In the previous 5 and more often in the last 3 days in and out of VVR I had been having trouble breathing. At times it felt like someone was sitting on my chest. This was not a normal working hard going up hill difficulty. I was really reluctant to get off trail. Even more reluctant to see someone in the case they might tell me to get off trail for the year. But I also thought getting checked out here would be better than being air lifted out later if something was seriously wrong.

So we got a ride out to Mammoth Lakes and found a cheap hotel. There was no urgent care in Mammoth Lakes, only an emergency room. So the next day we took a shuttle down to Bishop where I was able to get an appointment at a clinic. I saw a PA and got a few tests. Everything came back normal and they found I had good blood pressure, a low heart rate, and to be in great physical condition. The PA handed me a prescription and told me to take one of these the next time I felt the pressure and see if it helped. As I left the clinic to walk back to the hotel I looked at the prescription; Xanex. Great, so he thinks the problem is all upstairs. Well, there was only one way to see if this was a fluke, or maybe it was altitude, maybe the unplanned 2 days off would be the rest my body needed, or maybe drugging myself up would settle the crazy in me.

Back at Reds Meadow:
Reds Meadow is kind of in the middle of nowhere, so getting back took a while. In the morning we took a shuttle back up to Mammoth Lakes, then got a hitch up to Mammoth ski resort, then got another hitch up over the ridge and into the meadow.

Little did we know what a surprise we were going to get back at Reds Meadow. As I was talking to the people who gave us a ride I heard screams of glee and delight coming from the front of the small restaurant. As it turned out our detour put us right back with Gumby, Double-It, Samba, and Tallywa. Hugging and lots of chatter you would think we were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a year. The Buffalo 6 Pack was back together again! Tiffany and I decided to split a second breakfast (brunch by this time) with the group so we could all hike out together.

Back on the trail:
Armed with my crazy pills and some natural recommendations from my sister I was set to continue on.

The first night out of Reds Meadow is a National Monument, Devils Post Pile. It is an amazing look at a wall of basalt columns. Then we headed back UP!

As fun as it was to hike together again with friends Tiffany and I stopped an hour or two short of everyone else. Considering recent events we were taking 3 days to get to Toulumne vs 2 like everyone else. Our first camp back on the trail was a rewarding rock outcropping overlooking a valley and a view across to the John Muir Trail and the magnificent mountains framing it.

The second and third day into Tuolumne Meadows included Thousand Island Pass and Donahue Pass. Neither had significant snow and provided us with rewarding views of the broad valleys below. Because of our relaxed schedule we had long 2 hour breaks by lakes and late starts. I could get used to this! Although, I might not finish the trail until next year...

We had a beautiful walk into Tuolumne. You can always tell when we are getting close to a road or town by the number of people you run into. You can smell their clean clothes before you see them!

Walking into Tuolumne we found some fellow Hiker Trash hanging out at the picnic tables in front of the small store/post office/deli. We found out we made it just in time to get some hot dogs for the night and a swirl ice cream cone.

Trail Statistics
Mile: 942.5
Days: 60
Bars: 45
Bags of Chips: 11
Doctors Visits: 1